I had to share an excellent blog post on Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage: Not Unconstitutionally Discriminatory? by Shannon McCarthy of the ZorBlog. My tongue-in-cheek title unfortunately rings some truth. If you read Shannon’s post you will see that the Seattle mayor and city council members are, shall we say, less than welcoming to franchisors and … Continue Reading

If you are fresh off your spring break and looking for a great networking event I recommend attending the BIZ Luncheon this Wednesday, March 25th at the Ruan II Building, 601 Locust, Conference Room 101 in Downtown Des Moines. Casey will share the tale of his leap from the corporate world with Microsoft to the … Continue Reading

The Brick Gentry Law Firm is pleased to announce that three distinguished agricultural attorneys have joined the law firm effective February 2, 2015. Those attorneys include (click for bios): Eldon McAfee Erin Herbold-Swalwell Julia Vyskocil All three bring a breadth of experience particularly in Ag law including trials and business work. We are very excited … Continue Reading

All too often business owners neglect succession planning. In fact, according to a recent Inc Magazine article and Deloitte survey on the topic, 90 percent of business leaders recognize the success of their company depends on effective leadership succession but only 13 percent are confident about the succession plans they have made. And those are business … Continue Reading

Franchise Times has an interesting article on 20 to Watch: franchise trendsetters in 2015. One of the more interesting items to me was No. 18 – So Sue Me. Apparently one enterprising insurance executive has set up a suite of insurance products specifically designed for franchisors and franchisees to limit their risk against lawsuits. You … Continue Reading

Back in January of 2013 I shared that the Iowa Supreme Court began a new specialty court for business cases. According to a recent article from the Des Moines Business Record it sounds as though the court is off to a good start. (Unfortunately the article is only available in the member’s section of the … Continue Reading

I don’t know why or what’s in the water but November 17th must have been my own little national start a business day as I helped people form and start four businesses today. It is days like today that certainly keep you energized as a business lawyer and it is fun to see the excitement … Continue Reading

Entrepreneur Magazine columnists Courtney Spritzer and Stephanie Abrams list Hiring a Good Lawyer as one of the four things a start up business owner should do that may not be in the business plan. Another professional they suggest engaging is a knowledgeable accountant. And I could not agree more. In fact, I get worried when a client … Continue Reading

I was recently contacted by a business client whose employee signed a “contract” purporting to be from YELLOW PAGE IOWA that had been faxed to their business for what appeared to be a free Yellow Page or Facebook ad. The contract is misleading and deceptive and the fine print actually attempts to lock the client … Continue Reading

A recent Wall St. Journal article discussed some of the franchise brands with higher-than-average default rates. The highest on the list? Planet Beach at a considerable 41.1.% default rate for SBA loans from 2004 through 2014 according to the article. The franchising industry and its model of business does a wonderful job of marketing itself. … Continue Reading

I read an excellent post recently about The Secrets to Success in Franchising. I love what blog author Mike Sheehan had to say to start the article, If the title of this article caught your attention because you’re looking for a magic bullet, stop reading right now. There is no such thing – for any … Continue Reading

I wanted to share a recent interview from the Des Moines Register with John Jackovin of Bawte. Bawte landed a spot in the prestigious business accelerator, TechStars of Boulder. John’s worked hard throughout his career as an entrepreneur. It was interesting to hear him say that one of the biggest lessons he’s learned is the … Continue Reading

It goes without saying considering I am a franchise lawyer, but I agree completely with the Franchise King who offered his Top 5 Reasons to Hire a Franchise Attorney in a recent post. In my experience a lot of prospective franchisees skimp on hiring a franchise lawyer to review their FDD and franchise agreement. Many … Continue Reading

I read an interesting article from Entrepreneur on the Key to Understanding a Company’s FDD (franchise disclosure document). It’s an article I’d recommend prospective franchisees read but they better be prepared to go deeper if they really want to understand a Company’s FDD. The author recommends checking three key sections of the FDD: Item 3 … Continue Reading

Steve Sink wrote recently wrote a blog post on IowaBiz covering Why Deals do not Close. I recommend buyers and sellers of businesses to read the post. Fortunately, most of the deals I work on tend to close but from time to time there are issues with a deal or perhaps even litigation after a deal closes. … Continue Reading

Accountant Joe Kristan of Roth & Co. has an informative post on the IowaBiz Blog discussing the dangers of using IRA retirement monies to fund a startup business. In the situation described, a would-be entrepreneur took about $320,000 from his 401K and rolled it into a self-directed IRA. From there, the entrepreneur invested almost all … Continue Reading

I generally try to stay away from politics on this blog but there is an important vote on November 5th regarding Measure A: The Polk County Public Safety Judicial System Bond. I encourage you to vote ‘Yes" for this measure. Our Polk County Courthouse has been in use for over 100 years. While it is … Continue Reading

Franchisors often tout that they are selling an "exclusive territory" to a franchisee during the sales process. Franchisees generally want an exclusive territory because they believe this protects them from competition from other franchisees or the franchisor itself. But if you are a franchise who has been sold an exclusive territory, you better make sure … Continue Reading

I read an interesting blog post on the LexBlog Network from Tom Crane of the San Antonio Employment Law Blog called What We Can Learn from the Government Shutdown. The lesson Crane preaches that bullying tactics usually do not work very well in negotiation and tend to invite an equal response from the other side. … Continue Reading

Prospective franchisees are often under the mistaken belief that franchise agreements are not negotiable. That’s often true even after a franchisor says initially that it will not negotiate a franchise agreement. So what’s one key in obtaining concessions in your franchise agreement? Be willing to walk away. It’s true of any negotiation. If you are … Continue Reading

If you’re a prospective franchise I highly recommend a series of articles written by Robert Purvin, Chairman and CEO of the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers, on franchising myths. One of his best articles touches on the myth that Franchising Provides a "Proven Franchise Business System". I hear this one all the time. For … Continue Reading

Joel Libava (a/k/a "The Franchise King") has a list of 20 Must-Do Things Before You Buy a Franchise. It’s a great list so I thought I’d share the article with you. The last item on his list is to "Lawyer Up". Joel explains that the franchisor has a lawyer so franchisees should too. He also … Continue Reading

Those interested in raising investment capital for their business, or those interested in making investments in businesses, may want to take advantage of the monthly due diligence/investor training provided by Plains Angels. Plains Angels is a group of Midwest angel investors that have now funded various projects here in the Midwest. The group is actively … Continue Reading

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About Brick Gentry P.C.

For over 40 years, Brick Gentry has been determined to set itself apart, challenging ourselves to provide clients with a higher level of service while fostering a unique environment that is truly founded on partnership. Above all else, client relationships reveal the most about Brick Gentry. We value and take pride in each and every one and, ultimately, strive to excel by becoming our clients' counselor and partner. At Brick Gentry our objective is simple: provide outstanding personal service to help our clients achieve success. It is why we love what we do and what truly sets us apart from other firms. At Brick Gentry, we put clients first and we will prove it.